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Taking this...
Besides, as with the many alternative mp3 players, there are other linux distrobutions out there.
...into account and your dislike of AOL as a company, why choose to use AOL's ICQ software? There are plenty of alternative ICQ clients out there.

As for ICQ... with the Trillian client out, there's hardly any reason to ever use it again.

Faster, cleaner, more stable, smaller memory footprint...

Id suggest that you give Trillian a try, as this can connect to ICQ, AIM, Yahoo & MSN in one. (for windoze atm, they are gonna port to *nix once they release the final). I like it, mainly caus I have contacts on most msging protocols & it allows me to stay in touch.

Im not sure, but would have thought that this would remove the dangers of using ICQ / AIM.

It supports AIM, ICQ, Yahoo!, MSN, and IRC.

I've recently started using trillian (www.trillian.cc) for all my IMing needs... (yes, it does connect to the AIM server, among others such as MSN messenger, yahoo, and ICQ) I'm assuming it probably doesn't have this flaw, which is obviously a nice feature. And as far as I know, it's the only really solid alternative to a) having a billion separate IM programs b) using hated AOL software.

While I agree that it is vitial that people contact their representatives with their concerns and support organizations like the ACLU and the EFF, another thing you can do to defy mass survailance efforts like Carnivore is to use encryption whenever possible online. I'm sure there are other /.ers out there who know a lot more about the subject (please speak up!), but I wanted to add what information I can for those who might not already know. Here are a few suggestions of ways I know to use encryption:

• Email

• You can encrypt your email communications with others who are also willing to get the right tools. Probably the easies tool is PGP (there's also an international page), or for the free software crowd GPG. PGP makes this pretty easy to use under windows with almost any program with its encrypt clipboard contents feature, but there are also plugins for verious email programs.

• Terminal Sessions/Telent

• Most people probably know about it, but there's ssh, openssh, and if you're using Windows check out Tera Term and its ssh extension.

• Instant Messaging

• My appologies to the *nix crowd, but I don't yet know much about instant messaging on those platforms (soon); however, if you use windows I have seen several instant messaging clients that support encrypted chatting. I suggest Trillian, which is awsome anyway, free, and has encryption features. As far as *nix goes, I'd check out the big ones (e.g. Jabber) and if it isn't in there by default, look for plugins.

This certainly doesn't solve all the problems. The biggest is web browsing. You can use anonymous web browsing tools such as Anonymizer, but that is admittedly kind of a pain. I don't have any good suggestions there. I'd be interested in any other ways others have found to incorperate encryption into their online communications.

Additionally, by claiming the downside is the inability for AIM and M$IM to communicate, the author obvioously hasn't done much homework, or he would have discovered Trillian

You can't write a letter on your CD player, and you can't browse the Internet on your gameboy.
True - but you can do incredibly complicated things on them. "Legend of Zelda" is just as difficult as writing a letter - it's just difficult in a different way.
As for instant messanging, take a look at something like Trillian - all the features of the popular IM programs, none of the bloat. One of the things I love about Office 2k is the ability to hide the features that I never use; reducing the non-useful options is the first step to usability.

it's the fact that it is genuinely HARD to come up with an interface sufficiently generic to do all these things, yet still be comprehensible
Actually, while is is tricky and requires a lot of user testing and feedback - it's not that hard when you consider the rewards. The main problem at the moment is people are more concerned with the "look and feel" and the general asthetics rather than if the interfaces maps to a users mental model of the program.

Does anyone else want to take part in a project to design a new interface for computers?

Yup! Could be a very interesting project. I think it would be wonderful to have a logically similar l&f interface that could map onto any application. KDE (from what little I've seen of it) does have a very buggy implementation of it - the control panel allows you to specify if your buttons should display Icons, text or both. Unfortunatles, not all buttons have text associated with them :-(

Terry
britguy
@ ottawa. com

Think Akamai with peered nodes and intelligent network mapping.

Personally, now I think that it should be the system administrators of company networks that continue to use Outlook as well as the ISP's that continue to recommend OE to their customers to blame. These are not email viruses as they only affect poorly designed software and not the vast majority of decent email software out there. I don't run ICQ but that client has always striked me as a shoddy IM client, better to use something like Trillian instead. I like Jabber but it's having problems communicating with ICQ and AIM the last time I tried it.

Trillian is a good messenging program that combines them all into one. The interface is a bit oversimplified and lacking in a few features, but I still use it for all my instant messenging needs.

A bunch of clone clients have been trying to get hooks in for years to no constructive end because AOL actively tried to BLOCK other clients from connecting. If I remember correctly Jabber and MSN had it working for a while until AOL forced them out by altering the protocol. Most lately I believe they've been doing it with executable checksums. We might have figured out the protocol, but theyre just going to change it up again as soon as foreign clients start connecting in large numbers.

Some old coverage of this can be found at ZD. Theyve got a whole site called "InstantMess" that talks about how AOL refuses to discuss an open format because they want to lock users into their app.

Recently Trillian (www.trillian.cc) has succesfully done it. I think they got around it by using whatever method the JAVA aol clients (AIM express, Quickbuddy).

Id love to see an open standard, but without AOL on board its useless. Its sad really - that the unwashed masses are dictating the standard for the rest of us.

There are unified messaging projects and products starting to come that will allow you to consolidate all your data. This has to be one of the most important time saving ideas. Get your voicemail on the web, listen to your Email or IM on the phone, Fax on the web, text to speech, etc.

Another consolidation that I really like, is Instant messaging products, like Tillian. I can now get my AOL/AIM/Yahoo/ICQ/IRC in one program. (The irc is ok, but I'll stick with mirc and bitchx)..

--
Another Verizon customer, DSL'less in Seattle.

Use Trillian...

AIM clients and AOL clients can interact with it (provided you have an AOL/AIM screenname); in fact, MSN, Yahoo! and ICQ users can interact with it, too (again, provided you have said accounts). And it works as a IRC client, also...

Again, that's http://www.trillian.cc

Use Trillian...

AIM clients and AOL clients can interact with it (provided you have an AOL/AIM screenname); in fact, MSN, Yahoo! and ICQ users can interact with it, too (again, provided you have said accounts). And it works as a IRC client, also...

Again, that's http://www.trillian.cc

For *n*x users and *BSD users, Trillian is NOT yet available. So far only M$ OSs are supported. From their website:

"Trillian is currently available for Windows 9X/NT/2000/ME machines only! A linux port is in the works, and we're hoping to progress from there."

Trillian is neat. It would be neater if I could remove the IRC client....

'AOL said that it's almost done developing the technology that would allow its messaging services to operate with those offered by other industry players.'

Well, maybe they don't know it, but they must already be done, because Trillian connects to their servers. It's not open source, but it does connect w/ AIM, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, and IRC. Additionally, whatever services you don't use, you can modifiy an .ini file so as to not use the .dll for that service...decreasing the already low memory usage of the application. And the multitude of skins kick ass.

I tried Jabber, but didn't find any projects that were currently connecting to AIM or that were as far along as Trillian for that matter.

'AOL said that it's almost done developing the technology that would allow its messaging services to operate with those offered by other industry players.'

Well, maybe they don't know it, but they must already be done, because Trillian connects to their servers. It's not open source, but it does connect w/ AIM, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, and IRC. Additionally, whatever services you don't use, you can modifiy an .ini file so as to not use the .dll for that service...decreasing the already low memory usage of the application. And the multitude of skins kick ass.

I tried Jabber, but didn't find any projects that were currently connecting to AIM or that were as far along as Trillian for that matter.

Isn't this something like AIM's authentication for the oscar protocol? Many groups (trillian, jabber, gaim) have found ways around that. Is it conceivable to trick the Napster servers in a similar way? Not that anyone who would bother with CVS nightlies hasn't already found a better alternative.

I HATE the AIM client for windows. Personally, I much prefer Trillian. It also replaces the ICQ bloatware, and the growing MSN IM client.